This simple recliner is our “why” at RIBS. It’s a Kangaroo Care chair in the NICU at Le Bonheur, and donations raised by our athletes and sponsors paid for it.

“Kangaroo care” is a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) practice that allows for skin-to-skin time between a premature infant and a parent. This simple bit of bonding—laying the diapered infant across the bare chest of mom or dad—may be the only time a mother can touch her delicate newborn in the days and weeks after birth.

The health benefits for the baby are immense, from improved sleep to a more regulated heartbeat, and the emotional benefits for the otherwise helpless parents are beyond words.

Kangaroo Care chairs symbolize what our athletes, sponsors and volunteers are really doing through RIBS. Thank you to everyone who works on behalf of the most vulnerable kids and their parents at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.

Please consider making a donation today.